Dominican Province of Our Lady of the Rosary (Provincia de Nuestra Señora del Rosario / Notre-Dame du-Rosaire) is one of the provinces of the Order of Preachers. The Province was founded in 1587 and is now present in Asia, Europe, Latin America and even Timor Leste.
道明會玫瑰聖母會省成立於公元一五八七年，於歐亞、拉美、遠至東帝汶皆有敝省會士臨在

Saturday, 4 August 2012

The month of July has ended and with it the deadline I had fixed to receive answers to my open invitation for the new mission of East Timor. My deepest gratitude to those of you who have answered (either in writing or verbally) and showed yourselves ready to go. Although the invitation obviously remains open, I wish you to know that after having evaluating each particular case, I have selected by now two Brothers to start with. They are Frs. Rubén Martínez (Spaniard, assigned in Taiwan) and Gerson Javier Nieto (Venezuelan, assigned in Spain). Both of them have willingly accepted the proposal and they will now prepare themselves by studying Portuguese during the remaining months of this year. My plan is to travel with them to East Timor towards the middle of January 2013 and together try to lay the foundations of the new mission, which means actually the reestablishment of the Dominican Order there. My congratulations and full support to both of them; my gratitude to the Vicariates of Taiwan and Spain for their generous contribution to the Province and to the Order through them: I wished they saw it not as a loss, but rather as a source of blessings for them. And my prayer, for all. Please continue praying for the new mission. Fraternally yours, fr. Javier.

We had heard about it, but it was the Bishop of Dili, Dom Alberto Ricardo, the one who in his welcome words reminded us of the fact that the Dominican missionaries had been the first evangelizers of East Timor. He said it on 5 June 2012 when I went to his residence to ask him permission to establish ourselves in his diocese. "It is my great pleasure to know that the Dominicans want to come back to work in my diocese," he wrote two days letter in his response to my petition letter. "The Dominican missionaries remain at the heart of these people for having been the first missionaries who brought the faith to this country of East Timor." And after granting the Province of Our Lady of the Rosary his permission to establish a religious community in his diocese, he added: "The presence of the Dominicans in the diocese of Dili is very useful because there are still many places that require pastoral assistance. One of those places is Betano, located in the South of the Island. With a total of about 15,000 souls, the place is fertile and is called to become the economic hub of East Timor. Its people are longing for permanent pastoral assistance that will help them to maintain their faith threatened by some international sects and to regularly receive the sacraments. That is why I ask the Dominicans to establish themselves there. […] I consider this engagement a vital and important contribution to the apostolic life and vitality of the Church in this Diocese for the greater glory of God and the good of souls.”
The Order has entrusted East Timor to us. Its bishops welcome